[Wake up Mr. West] Time to think about acquiring David from Indy?

With the WojBomb reporting that Howard could, potentially, miss an extend amount of time is it time for the Rockets front office to evaluate acquiring David West from Indy?

Playoff Tested
While the front court group of Josh Smith, TJones, DMo, and Dorsey can sustain Howard's absence in the regular season, there's not one among them that has been tested in the playoffs and succeeded. Sure Smith is the most seasoned vet in among the four and have seen the playoffs during his time in ATL but if we are to think about the worst case scenario (a limited Howard for the playoffs or no Howard at all) adding a bruiser like David West could give us that veteran presence in the front court.

Deepest front court in the NBA
Add West to Smith, Jones, and Dmo and you have a potent front court rotation. Once Howard comes back, it will be the deepest front court in the NBA hands down. West also has a good mid-range game coupled with decent post play. We haven't even discussed his ability to defend at an above average level and his penchant to bang down low with the best of them.

Contractual Flexbility....sort of
By all accounts David West is reportedly ready to retire after this season. Despite those reports, he's still a solid contributor (13/7/47%/79%) this year. With only one year left on his contract (and a player option at that) at $12.6 million, it could be sort of a win-win acquisition:

a. The experiment doesn't work out, West retires and comes off the books this summer.
b. The experiment works out and instead of worry about re-signing Josh Smith (and regretting it) in the Summer, West comes back for one last season and would come off the books next summer.

Lower price of admission
At 17-31 as of today, Indy is only 2 games behind Charlotte for the 8th seed. Kemba Walker is out for a while but I still don't see Indy eeking out enough wins to get that 8th spot. That being said, I think the pieces needed to acquire West would be more reasonable than trying to acquire other players of need (e.g. Lawson, Dragic, Rubi, Eric Grdon, etc.) because, well, he's older. Terry and Shved's expiring will be a part of a package and I'd think a young player or draft pick could seal the deal. Is giving up Terry's perimeter shooting and other parts worth David West? It might not look like it now but come May, West could be very valuable for this team....with or without Howard coming back.


I know it's our preference to acquire a playmaker like a Lawson or Dragic before the deadline but with Howard's new status I think the higher priority now is to have a security blanket in the event that Howard misses more time than what he hoped for.

 

The hypothetical in getting West would be more for the playoffs than the regular season. Of course the rotations shrink down to probably a 7 or 8 man rotation and if Howard comes back, you're looking at divvying up significant playoff minutes to Jones, DMo, Smith and West at the PF position. Out of that group of 4, which two player would you pick? Lets say you slide DMo over as the back up center spot so he can get floor time. You would have Smith, Jones, and West left...I'd think most would pick West and either Smith or Jones.

As far as fit within the offense, I don't think Smith fits within the offense either. Of course if you think he's a 3 point shooter then, yea, by all means. West gets most of his points near the basket peppered in with some mid-range game which I think fits in with our philosophy of either shooting from outside or getting easy buckets around the basket.

 

LOL to be honest has having too many forwards ever stopped Morey from acquiring MORE forwards?

I respect most of the responses here and, yes, on the surface it looks weird to acquire a power forward (when we already have 3) when he can't replace Howard at the center position. However....

1. Why can't McHale run out a front court that has DMo at center and West at power forward and rotate Jones and Smith around during the game. Yes, you're going to have to find meaningful minutes for all four but those four players are prone to having cold nights where having another guy could be useful.

2. As far as his contract, like I said before, it's been reported that West is ready to retire at season's end. What better way to go for West out than to get into the playoffs and have a puncher's chance at a ring? His player option for next year is far from a 100% sure thing. And if he picks up said player option then we can let Josh Smith go if his asking price is too high.

If the reports about Howard getting a second opinion are true and what Cyberx told us about internal discussion and fear regarding his knees are accurate, the time to win has to be this year and the next while Howard is still under contract.